WindowsLicensing CSP

10/09/2017

5 minutes to read

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The WindowsLicensing configuration service provider is designed for licensing related management scenarios. Currently the scope is limited to edition upgrades of Windows 10 desktop and mobile devices, such as Windows 10 Pro to Windows 10 Enterprise. In addition, this CSP provides the capability to activate or change the product key of Windows 10 desktop devices.

The following diagram shows the WindowsLicensing configuration service provider in tree format.

./Device/Vendor/MSFT/WindowsLicensingThis is the root node for the WindowsLicensing configuration service provider.

The supported operation is Get.

UpgradeEditionWithProductKeyEnters a product key for an edition upgrade of Windows 10 desktop devices.

Note

This upgrade process requires a system restart.

The date type is a chr.

The supported operation is Exec.

When a product key is pushed from an MDM server to a user's device, changepk.exe runs using the product key. After it completes, a notification is shown to the user that a new edition of Windows 10 is available. The user can then restart their system manually or, after two hours, the device will restart automatically to complete the upgrade. The user will receive a reminder notification 10 minutes before the automatic restart.

After the device restarts, the edition upgrade process completes. The user will receive a notification of the successful upgrade.

Important

If another policy requires a system reboot that occurs when changepk.exe is running, the edition upgrade will fail.

If a product key is entered in a provisioning package and the user begins installation of the package, a notification is shown to the user that their system will restart to complete the package installation. Upon explicit consent from the user to proceed, the package continues installation and changepk.exe runs using the product key. The user will receive a reminder notification 30 seconds before the automatic restart.

After the device restarts, the edition upgrade process completes. The user will receive a notification of the successful upgrade.

This node can also be used to activate or change a product key on a particular edition of Windows 10 desktop device by entering a product key. Activation or changing a product key does not require a reboot and is a silent process for the user.

Important

The product key entered must be 29 characters (that is, it should include dashes), otherwise the activation, edition upgrade, or product key change on Windows 10 desktop devices will fail. The product key is acquired from Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center. Your organization must have a Volume Licensing contract with Microsoft to access the portal.

The following are valid edition upgrade paths when using this node through an MDM:

Windows 10 Enterprise to Windows 10 Education

Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Education

Windows 10 Pro to Windows 10 Education

Windows 10 Pro to Windows 10 Enterprise

Activation or changing a product key can be carried out on the following editions:

Windows 10 Education

Windows 10 Enterprise

Windows 10 Home

Windows 10 Pro

EditionReturns a value that maps to the Windows 10 edition running on desktop or mobile devices. Take the value, convert it into its hexadecimal equivalent and search the GetProductInfo function page on MSDN for edition information.

The data type is an Int.

The supported operation is Get.

StatusReturns the status of an edition upgrade on Windows 10 desktop or mobile devices. The status corresponds to one of the following values:

0 = Failed

1 = Pending

2 = In progress

3 = Completed

4 = Unknown

The data type is an Int.

The supported operation is Get.

UpgradeEditionWithLicenseProvides a license for an edition upgrade of Windows 10 mobile devices.

Note

This upgrade process does not require a system restart.

The date type is XML.

The supported operation is Execute.

Important

The XML license file contents must be properly escaped (that is, it should not simply be a copied XML), otherwise the edition upgrade on Windows 10 mobile devices will fail. For more information on proper escaping of the XML license file, see Section 2.4 of the W3C XML spec . The XML license file is acquired from the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center. Your organization must have a Volume Licensing contract with Microsoft to access the portal.

The following are valid edition upgrade paths when using this node through an MDM or provisioning package:

Windows 10 Mobile to Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise

Warning

Edition upgrades do not support Volume Licence (VL) keys.

LicenseKeyTypeReturns the parameter type used by Windows 10 devices for an edition upgrade, activation, or product key change.